Introduction

This breed of cat is a deliberate hybridization of the Siamese and the American Bicolor cats (American shorthair cats with the white spotting factor). The breed began in 1960 in Philadelphia, USA, when Dorothy Hinds Daugherty of Kensing Cattery, noticed that three Siamese kittens in a litter had white feet within the pointing. She found the contrasting pattern appealing and decided to breed for that effect.

This was an era when a number of new breeds were being created or discovered. This is a fairly rare breed (6/10 where 10 = the most rare, on my estimation).

After the creation of the breed, its development included breeding Snowshoe to Snowshoe.

The American Shorthair, one of the founding cats is a gentle, amiable and very agreeable cat. They look like cats used to look, I say.

Likewise for the Traditional “old-fashioned” Siamese. The Siamese cat’s character is slightly different from the American Shorthair but all the same this breed of cat has a well rounded character suitable for human companionship; albeit a bit demanding and talkative at times.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the Snowshoe Cat also has all the qualities required of a fine all round domestic cat namely, friendly, calm, talkative, accepting of other pets, companionable, the intelligence of Siamese and amiability of the American Shorthair and enjoying being indoors. According to Gloria Stephens the Snowshoe cat has inherited a bit of the Siamese cat “aloofness”. The voice, unlike that of the Siamese, is soft and gentle, she says.

Coat — Appearance

The fascinating aspect of the Snowshoe Cat and the cat’s outstanding feature must be the coat pattern. After all, this cat is named after the pattern. I therefore go into some detail about the coat color and pattern despite the fact that it means discussing cat genetics, a very complex subject that is still being researched. Indeed at 2005 in an article entitled “White spotting in the domestic cat (Felis catus) maps near KIT on feline chromosome B1″ by M. P. Cooper, N. Fretwell, S. J. Bailey and L. A. Lyons”, it was stated that “the gene(s) responsible for white spotting in the domestic cat have not yet been identified”.

I deal primarily with the Bicolor Snowshoe (the photographs illustrate the Bicolor). There are mitted and pointed coats as well (see below).

White Spotting Gene

As I understand it the white spotting gene causes the bicolor pattern through its interaction with a recessive allele (see below) of the agouti gene. Its action is modified by (a) modifier genes and (b) whether it is present in heterozygous form (2 copies of the gene) or homozygous form (one copy present). The white spotting gene is semi-dominant with variable expression (is this because it is modified?). Remember genes come in pairs and one of the pairs is called an allele.

This gene is imported into the Snowshoe cat by the Bicolor American Shorthair. The white spotting gene interacts with the Siamese gene and overlays on top of the pointing pushing out the dark pointing caused by the Siamese gene to produce the white markings on the face, limbs and front of the cat.

Apparently, some researchers have hypothesized that there are various types of white spotting gene and one of these is the direct cause of the “mittens” (snowshoes) on this cat.

Himalayan Gene

The Siamese gene is called the Himalayan gene. The gene is recessive to the full color gene meaning both alleles (2 copies) of the gene need to be in place for the Siamese color to be present.

Interestingly the gene is also heat sensitive. It is this particular characteristic which explains the “pointing” or dark extremities. The extremities of an animal are obviously cooler than the center. Under warmer conditions the gene produces a lighter color (the Siamese body color) and under cooler conditions the gene produces a darker color.

This explains why the Siamese cat is darker during the winter months (particularly if the cat goes out a lot) and pure cream or white without points at birth (at the moment of birth the kitten will be at internal body temperature).

The same applies to the Snowshoe cat. At birth they are white and they develop their markings over the first 3 weeks.

Another interesting point is that Siamese cats get darker with age and it has been reported that the white areas caused by the spotting gene may increase with the cat’s age. Is the spotting gene heat sensitive too?

This would imply that the white markings of the Snowshoe Cat might expand slightly with the age of the cat and that there is greater contrast with age.

The Snowshoe cat has a semi-foreign shape or body conformation. This is a muscular body but not cobby (like the Persian, for example). Males cats are medium to medium large and females medium in size (see largest cat breed).

The face is a modified wedge; nearly an equilateral triangle (the Japanese Bobail has a face shape described as an equilateral triangle). Jowly stud boys may have a more rounded head. The eyes are medium sized and oval

Breeding

Through selective breeding Snowshoe Cat breeders are, it seems, able to control to a degree how the white spotting gene will work. This is important as the preferred show pattern is the inverted “V” on the face as illustrated in the pictures at the top of this page. This is a symmetrical pattern co-ordinating well with the Siamese points and the geometry of the face.

Although, please note that the TICA breed standard does not give more points if the pattern is symmetrical.

The white spotting gene is possibly (some conflicting information here) associated with deafness, blue eyes and odd eye color if it has affected the area of the ears and eyes. Note: the Messybeast author Sarah Hartwell states that this is not the case. Deafness is associated with the white gene (a different gene), however.

A mitted Snowshoe has white on the paws, chest, back legs and chin only. The pointed Snowshoe Cat has pointing like a Siamese and no white patches.

The Snowshoe Cat has full TICA registration (can be shown at competition) but is not registered by the CFA. The top UK registry, GCCF, has preliminarily recognized this cat

History

Date

Event

1960

Creation of the breed

1960-1997

Little development in USA – one breeder in USA, 1997

1980

UK began development of the Snowshoe

1993

Recognized by TICA

1980-1998

Little development in UK – one breeder, 1998

2002

UK bloodline improved with German importation of a male cat

2003

12 breeders and 45 cats in existence – FiFe registers breed

2004

FiFe full registration (can show at championships)

2004

Preliminary recognition by GCCF

—

Not yet recognized by CFA but the breed is registered with these registries: ACFA, TICA, CFF, ACA

Breeders + Breed Standard + Clubs

2008: As usual I select breeders from Internet websites only. The status of the website in terms of Google PageRank and Alexa traffic rank is indicative of the effort invested in it and therefore the cattery.

The content of the site will also tell people a bit about the philosophy of the breeder. I try and select individual cattery websites (as opposed to directory listings) listed in the first three pages of a Google search and add my comments.

Karib’s Kats – link is broken 13th Jan 2013 and therefore removed. Located Long Island NY, USA. Has an Alexa traffic rank of 9m (low) but at least ranked and a Google PageRank. Guess it has been around for a while – at least 10 years or more. Very small website.

This is the only Snowshoe breeder’s website listed in the first three pages of Google indicative of the rarity of this cat (note: there are directories, however).

Snow Angels Snowshoe Cats Not sure where they are located as it’s not clear from the website. They have a PageRank and 6m Alexa traffic rank. Not in first 3 pages of search. This is the only cattery for this breed listed by TICA on their website. Dead site June 2012.

About Michael Broad

Michael is retired! He retired at age 57 and at Aug 2018 is approaching 70. He worked in many jobs. The last job he did was as a solicitor practicing general law. He loves animals and is passionate about animal welfare. He also loves photography and nature. He hates animal abuse. He has owned and managed this site since 2007. There are around 13k pages so please use the custom search facility!

I wish you the best of luck in your mission. There are breeders and perhaps some will ship their cats although it is important to visit the cattery to check for quality. Have you tried searching for local breeders?

I am checking everywhere – 14 years ago I rescued a small brown baby that turned into the most beautiful snow shoe I have ever seen. We had to put him down he was ill and we could not stand to see him suffer. Now we want another – we know we can never replace him, but we would like another snowshoe.

I took in a little kitten when she was 4-5 weeks old. I bottle fed her and now she is almost a year old. Here is a pic of her. I think she is a snowshoe or at least has some in her. What do you think??

Hi Tonya. Your cat is a Seychellois cat in appearance or as you say a Snowshoe that is not quite right. The Seychellois is normally “modern” in appearance (slender) so you cat is a traditional shaped Seychellois. She may be a Siamese Mix (one removed from a Siamese) or a Siamese that is not to type (meaning the breeding did not work out) or a random bred Siamese cat.

Of all these she looks most like a Snowshoe that is not slender enough (for the American market) and the white patches are not quite right or the rare Seychellois (a European cat breed). But there is a lot of overlap between these breeds. There are a lot of cats in the Siamese family of cats.

I guess I should have told you this. She was the only one this color. She had 2 sisters who were calico and one brother who was an orange tabby. We have no idea what the mother or father looks like. They were abandoned. I know kittens can have different fathers so I am assuming her father was a snowshoe, a Seychellois, or part Siamese. She is a very unique cat and she hates little kids except for mine. We just love her!!! I just happened across your page and thought I would see what you thought. Thanks for your help!

She has a purebred mix appearance meaning one removed from purebred but the whole subject of cat breeds is very complicated which means that many breeds started as random bred cats. These foundation cats are still out there.

I was given a kitten by a coworker He look like a snowshoe, or siamese,not sure which one. His name is nala, long story behind his name. He has the color of siamese, blue eyes,black tail and ears look like he’s siamese, but has 4 white paw, and a white spot on his chin. Could you help me to determine which breed he is. His mom was a black cat, dad was a black and white cat. He was the only one in the litter turned out the way he did. I’m confused, don’t know whether do called him siamese,or snowshoe.

cats can have multiple fathers for their kittens that might explain why your kitten was the only one that looked that way he could have different dad to the rest of the litter he could also be part ragdoll they too have those markings good luck

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